


Take Me to the Lakes

by RavenSnowStar94



Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst and Drama, First Time, Hurt Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Kurosaki Ichigo-centric, M/M, Memory Loss, Mystery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Protective Kurosaki Ichigo, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenSnowStar94/pseuds/RavenSnowStar94
Summary: The Thousand Year Blood War came to an end and Ichigo needed time off from everyone.He has been avoiding the world for the past two years, all his energies going to the nightmares that sucked his life. And when he comes face to face with Grimmjow in a coma he starts to dig some feelings that have been buried deep inside of him and untouched. Norturing them would maybe give him the happiness he so much seaks...but the mystery around Grimmjow circunstances after he wakes up puts the inevitable thought that this happiness could all go away in the blink of an eye.
Relationships: Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime/Ishida Uryuu
Comments: 11
Kudos: 37





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, welcome to a grimmichi fanfic!
> 
> I've been away from the fandom for so long and now I'm back! 
> 
> I changed some things to fit with what I had in mind for this fic. You might see Ichigo and Grimmjow being a little OOC at some points but please have in mind the plot of the fic, and also i changed some ages just because I wanted lol. 
> 
> Hopefully, you will find my fic worthy of your time<3 Stay safe and have a great week! ( I love comments btw hehe)
> 
> PS: CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY TITE KUBO
> 
> PS2: English is not my native language, so I'm sorry if I let pass some mistakes. Had my incredible friend helping with fixing some typos and errors but we are humans so some times we don't see everything.

**PROLOGUE**

They were both kneeling under the wrath of Queen Hallibel. 

Grimmjow wasn’t afraid, but he could feel Nel's slight trembling body next to him. They were back to Hueco Mundo and had to face the consequences of going to help the shinigamis in their war with such psychotic beings

He didn’t have a clue why he came with Nel, but knowing she was going to war alone to help Kurosaki and the others made him act like a fool, like he cared. 

He hated these emotions..

He hated the stupid orange head who was still in the back of his mind like a bad migraine, but he didn’t have anything better to do back then and he liked a fight. So what if going there meant he was on Kurosaki’s side? At least he would make someone bleed and have a good fight.

“Grimmjow and Nelliel...you both know that your stupid actions could have been seen as us being on the shinigami’s side. Do you have any idea of what that could have meant?” She raised from her throne, her voice echoing through the empty halls of Las Noches. “I hereby make the very difficult decision of exiling you two.”

“But Halibel-"

Nel tried to continue but Grimmjow interrupted her with a mocking laugh, in an obvious attempt to keep Halibel from hurting the young woman. He just wished he could still have some sort of friend here, and his only option was almost to be killed next to her...maybe he could something good before doing something incredibly heroic and stupid for once.

“Halibel, we didn’t do anything wrong for fuck’s sake! Stop trying to show you’re the queen, we already accept that and know you are the oh so powerful being here. No need to be a bitch about it. And Nel only went because she had a debt with one of the shinigami’s, she couldn't help being a prideful arrancar.”

The queen walked towards them, obviously irritated with his harsh words and brusque behaviour, even if it wasn’t unusual.

“And why did you go, Grimmjow? If my memory is correct, you hate them...as you hate everybody. So why go there?”  
He snickered.

“You know me. Always thirsting for a good fucking fight.” He stared at her straight ahead, not giving a shit about what she could do to him. Even with her words she still had some weak spot for her fellow arrancars, and she wasn’t stupid.

“Yes, Grimmjow…” She kneeled in front of him, with something strange in her eyes as she looked between the two of them. “I know you too well. And because of that I won’t do anything to Nel, but you...I hope you get what you wished for.”

Her dark hands came up to rest on his cheek, the side without the hollow mask.

Nel was holding her breath next to him but let it all out when yelling his name.

“Grimmjow!”

Her voice and Halibel’s other hand piercing his chest in a smooth movement were the last two things he registered before blacking out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who subscribed and left some kudos, you are all the best <3

> _What should be over burrowed under my skin_   
>  _In heart-stopping waves of hurt_

After saving the damn world from Yhwatch and his craziness, he went back to his duties in Karakura already knowing what to expect. The family he loves so much, his friends who were all currently enjoying their normal lives and-

Loneliness.

Two years had passed and that feeling of being utterly alone even with so many people living with him and supporting him still remained. Those things that make him want to crawl back into his bed every morning and not talk to anyone.

Feeling lonely was something he wished had changed when he first became entangled with the Shinigami business, but he quickly found out that it was a constant in his life he feared would last forever.

He sat on the roof of his house, watching the silent city under the night sky as he listened to his younger sister, Yuzu, complain to their father about his apathetic state.. 

Ichigo could hear faint sobs as she talked about his quietness and the fact that she baked his favorite cake and didn't even eat it.

His entire family knew he was strange. Even after being humanity’s saviour.

Being a hero wasn't going to automatically make him happy, he wished it did, but it didn't.

He 's also been avoiding Rukia, Renji, Ishida, Inoue and especially Urahara. 

The old man seemed to have something important to tell Ichigo, but lately he didn't have the energy to deal with any of it.

Most of the time he wished he could disappear, just to stop feeling like a trash bag drifting through the air..

His hands went to his face, trying to brush away the pain and compose himself before he went back inside to purposely try a piece of his sister's cake before she started crying again because of him. 

Ichigo never meant to be a pain in the ass, someone his family needed to tiptoe around.

Even with all the love his family had for him, he still wished his mother were alive to guide him through these confusing feelings. He still wished she was there to dry away his tears and say he would be alright in the end, that he was her strong boy, capable of anything. 

Masaki. His mother. The center of his whole world had been dead since he was seven year old and he wasn’t ready to let her go, especially after finding out she was killed protecting him, shielding him from the world of hollows, souls and shinigamis.

Sometimes he hated them all.

Sometimes he thinks he should never have helped Rukia on that day they first met.first

For a brief second he laughs weakly at the absurdity of his thoughts. He loves Rukia and all of his friends from Soul Society, who was he trying to kid?.

But this pain...sometimes he wanted to be a normal human man with normal problems, even if he knew that that would still make him feel bad. 

When he lost his powers back then, he felt miserable too.

Maybe he would always be miserable regardless of his choices.

Maybe it was his destiny.

His phone went off again, he checked the number and saw it was Urahara calling. Weird. The old man usually texted.

_ "Kurosaki-san, come to my shop tomorrow. We need to discuss something." _

"I'm busy, Urahara."

There was a way of silence. A sigh.

_ "Don't make me send Yoruichi to pick you up tomorrow. Stop being anemo little shit and try to live now that we got rid of that lunatic. You saved all of us and I won’t accept you not saving yourself."  _ He paused _. "Come tomorrow." _

And then the line went dead.

Ichigo thought about what Urahara had said. Something about how Urahara said he wouldn't accept Ichigo not saving himself made him think that the old man really did care about his well being ...either that or he had a secret agenda.

Definitely the second one.

He would go tomorrow. 

He would go and try to make them think that everything was going back to normal, that Ichigo still had that fire inside of him.. 

_________________________________________________________

  
  


After a sleepless night, common these days as he couldn't stop imagining everyone dying horribly around him during the war. Seeing his sisters on the breakfast table always made him give a sigh of relief, confirming they were alive and nothing in his nightmares were real.

“Ichi-ni! I’ve made your favorite: pancakes!” Yuzu came to hug him good morning as Karin waved from the chair with half a pancake on her mouth.

"Where 's dad?” He asked, sitting and pouring juice on his glass.

“Back at the clinic, he needed to check on a girl who came late last night and he put her on IV.”

“Ok, it’s alright if I go out a little and leave you two alone?” He asked.

“Ichigo, we are sixteen years old, we can handle ourselves.” Karin said suspiciously. “Finally meeting people?”

“Urahara called me, saying he needs to have a talk.”

Yuzu placed two pancakes on Ichigo’s plate.

“Can I come? Junta and Ururu said they wanted me to show them how to cook proper cupcakes.”

“Since when do you talk with them?” Ichigo was a little surprised knowing that apparently Yuzu has been spending time with the kids that live with Urahara.

“Hum...You and dad don’t want to talk about shinigami stuff, so I go there every Friday to gossip about you and get to know more about their powers.”

He softened his expression, noticing the sad tone in her voice.

“Come with me then...And you, Karin?” He turned to his other sister.

“Pass, going to study a bit today and watch my animes.”

They finished their breakfast with ease, Ichigo felt a little hopeful with the normalcy of their morning. Obviously, something was still nagging deep inside his mind, as if a part of him was missing, leaving him half empty.

When he walked to Urahara’s shop holding hands with his sister, he realized how he’d taken for granted the last two years, he should be with his family and simply be happy with them. 

But why couldn’t the nightmares ever leave him alone? ? Why did he need the pills to get a moment of peace in the darkness?

The shop was still the same even after all these years, the wooden layout and some plants around the entrance were inviting and Yuzu ran inside already calling out for her friends. Ichigo took a deep breath, fearing that whatever Urahara needed to talk with him about would probably make his life even more difficult.

His feet passed the threshold of Urahara’s shop, Tessai waving with his serious eyes while the owner of the shop appeared out of nowhere fanning his face as usual. Urahara’s hair was the same length as the last time they saw each other, down to his shoulders, his sandy hair hidden under the hat.

“Kurosaki-kun! I see you stopped moping and decided to join the world of the living !” He giggled and Ichigo had to hold back the urge to punch him in the face...some things apparently never changed. “Come in, let’s have some tea while we talk.”

They walked through the panels of doors, Ichigo having ditched his boots back in the shop to walk around the tatame with ease.

“I don’t want to be part of some plan, Urahara...Especially when you are in the middle of it.”

“Don’t be rude, Ichigo. We are friends.”  
“Yeah, friends, alright.”

They sat facing the inner garden of the property. Sitting side by side as they were old friends catching up, when in reality Ichigo just wanted to get away from it.

“We all know you have been distancing yourself from everyone. Your sister has been telling amazing stories of how your best friend is the roof of your house.” Ichigo rolled his eyes. “But enough about your existential crisis...we have a sort of crisis. I wasn’t going to involve you but certain things recently developed and your name came up.”

Ichigo turned his face towards Urahara, expression serious.

“At first we were handling it but-I fear I need your help.” he took out his hat, showing how alarmed he was feeling. Nothing good came after he took his hat off. “Maybe this unfortunate situation might help you somehow. I don’t know. I’m just out of options.”

“Spill it out, for the love of God, Urahara.” Ichigo said nervously.

“I have an ex-arrancar in a comatose state for a year already in one of my rooms.”

Blue eyes flashed for a moment inside Ichigo’s mind.

The buzzing sound in Ichigo’s ears made him dizzy, he heard it right? An arrancar? Why would an arrancar be there in the human world after everything...He knew Halibel is the queen of Hueco Mundo and they were trying to make things right there and more organized, so how did an arrancar end up there and which one?

Ichigo felt his heartbeat get faster. He stood up, trying to feel the arrancar’s reiatsu but he got nothing.

“I don’t feel any reiatsu...a part from the usual.”

Urahara stood up too, he walked towards one of the corridors of the house and pushed open the left door.

“As I said...ex-arrancar…” He motioned for Ichigo to enter the room and his legs gave out.

Laying in a futon, with his blue hair longer than he remembered and his face shallow, Grimmjow’s unmoving body was. It was unnerving seeing the arrancar so still, for all his encounters were filled with loud noises and fights, not so much calm or conversation. Actually, Grimmjow never shut up. He never stayed down or quiet. So something about seeing this man in that state made Ichigo seek for air.

“As I was saying, he has been in this state for the last 7 months.” Urahara went near Grimmjow and kneeled next to him. Placing a hand on his forehead, and checking his vitals. “He is stable but in a vagetative state, we don’t know what’s wrong. I tried everything I could think of.” 

Ichigo finally got a hold of himself, his voice was hoarse when he spoke.

“How? I’m...”

“We don’t know what happened. He showed up in my shop one night, he said things no one understood and then he fell and never woke up. We tended to some scratches he had at the time, but he still won’t wake up even after months.”

“And why does this have anything to do with me?”  
He couldn’t look at Grimmjow directly yet. It was too much. Seeing a crazy man like him, laying down still was something that made him nervous.

“Yesterday we tried injecting him with a formula of reiatsu in his veins and he had a reaction. He trashed a lot and said two words in delirium, one was ‘fight’...” Nothing surprising there. “And then he mumbled a word a lot but we couldn’t quite grasp it- but then when he calmed down he said very clearly...your name.”

Ichigo was totally lost.

“My name?”

“Me and Tessai were surprised because we know you two haven’t seen each other since the war and we know you aren’t exactly friends. So we decided to tell you what’s been going on.”

Finally, Ichigo looked closer to the arrancar on the floor.

Grimmjow’s face was clean, pale and had a ghostly look to it. His hollow mask wasn’t on his left cheek and there was no teal mark under his eyes. He looked frail and miserable...the more Ichigo thought the more he could see and remember similarities between him and the man. His blue hair was longer, almost reaching his elbows height. And Grimmjow looked so...

“Wait-you’ve said ex-arrancar? What does that mean?”

“We aren’t quite sure 100% but he is not an arrancar...he is more human.”

“Human? How?”

How could an arrancar turn into a human? That wasn’t possible and Ichigo could testify that because even if he hadn’t felt the reiatsu before he could feel a glimmer of something underneath Grimmjow’s skin, in his soul.

“Wait-”

Ichigo concentrated on the feeling of something moving, crawling, broken...he hesitated before placing his hands on the now bare chest of Grimmjow. Urahara’s stare distracted Ichigo a bit but he focused on the sensation under the ex-arrancar’s skin. Ichigo pushed more of his powers and got a hold of something inexplicable.

His hands flinched away from the body.

“What did you feel?” Urahara’s voice was quiet.

Ichigo trembled, a shivering feeling passing through him.

“It’s like his soul or reiatsu is frozen...somewhere...I don’t know how to explain. But he has power, put it under so many layers of something…”

“Alright...Ichigo, breathe.”

Ichigo didn’t understand why Urahara said that until he noticed he was having a sort of panic attack in front of Urahara. The feeling he felt when touching the cold thing inside Grimmjow freaked him out so much that he was dry heaving and trying to breathe at the same time. He felt arms around him and Yuzu came in focus, she kneeled in front of him and hugged him close.

Urahara was talking to Tessai when Ichigo could focus on the things around himself. Yuzu was smiling at him, sitting between his body laying in the ground next to Grimmjow.

“Are you alright, Ichi-ni?” She asked, he sat up, a little weak.

“I am...Sorry.” He smiled back at her, sensing a strange presence coming out of Grimmjow's still unconscious body.

“Is he your friend?”

Ichigo laughed for the first time in...months.

Yuzu’s eyes went wide and Urahara even stopped talking.

“I-He would totally punch me if I called him my friend...I guess we are more like allys or frenemies? Hard to explain.”

Yuzu nodded, looking at Grimmjow with pity.

“I need a bathroom.” Ichigo stated while standing up.

Urahara followed him, watching as Ichigo splashed some water on his face.

“I was out for how long?”

“Half an hour or less…” Ichigo looked at Urahara’s reflection in the mirror. “You helped, thank you. Something new for us to think about.”

Ichigo looked down on the water, washing his hands and then turning to go back with Urahara to where Grimmjow was. The room was silent but Ichigo heard a humming coming from it before sliding the door open.

His sister sat next to Grimmjow, her hands absentmindedly brushing his long hair with her fingers, a comforting image. It should have freaked him out but he leaned on the threshold next to Urahara and both of them listened as Yuzu finished the lullaby their mother used to sing when they were little.

“Yuzu, let’s go home.”

She smiled at Ichigo and then did something so human and so normal that his heart stopped. She leaned down on Grimmjow and kissed his cheek, whispering.

“Get better soon...Ichigo wants you to be his friend.”

He didn’t know why, but he blushed with what she said. Looking over at Urahara who was giggling behind the fan in his hands.

Yuzu went to Ichigo as if nothing happened.

They both bid their goodbyes to Urahara as Ichigo got the sensation that something crucial happened this morning, and that things were going to change drastically.

He wasn’t sure if it was for good or bad.

But seeing Yuzu happy next to him, he decided to be hopeful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Hopefully you all had a great week! 
> 
> A new chapter coming! The sleeping beauty finally wakes up <3
> 
> Thanks for everyone who is reading!

> _ While I bathe in cliffside pools  
> With my calamitous love and insurmountable grief _

_ Ichigo was drowning. _

_ He was falling and falling with no end in sight. . _

_ His body felt lighter than ever. _

_ When he tried to breathe there wasn’t any air, as if he was surrounded by water. For a second he starts panicking, but then he noticed that he was alone.  _

_ Nothing to be scared of because no one he loved was there to die in front of him. So this nightmare was different from the rest. _

_ There was nothing there, just him in this oblivion. _

_ His eyes closed, trying to rest. _

_ Ichigo felt a presence coming closer, coming quickly towards him and then, all of a sudden, it grabbed his feet. The invisible force pushed him down, taking the form of a hand with sharp claws and at the same time a roar reverberated through the emptiness of the place.  _

_ Ichigo knew that sound, he tried to hunch over and grab the hand on his feet, but then, just as quickly, he was free again. _

_ As the second passed, the presence disappeared.  _

_ When Ichigo looked down again he saw only darkness and felt nothing. _

He gasped for air as he sat up on his bed. 

Drenched in sweat, his hand went to his chest feeling as if something had pierced the skin. 

Closing his eyes he sensed that his reiatsu was in a normal state and sighed in relief.

It was still night, the moon high in the sky, and he went to take a shower and to try and relax. He remembered then that he forgot to take his sleeping pills before bed, for the first time since he started taking them. 

Earlier that day he had scouted around Karakura half expecting to feel something, but no hollow appeared, so he went back to his house noticing everyone else was already asleep and he simply laid down, closing his eyes. 

Sleep came fast, but the nightmare was unusual. It felt like...a message.

Why did his dream feel more real than the gory ones? 

He placed his head under the spray of hot water trying to dissolve the thoughts insidehis head. 

When he was back in his room, Isshin was sitting on his bed. His father stared at him with serious eyes, something not he wasn’t used to in their relationship.

“Son…we need to talk.” Ichigo sat next to him on the bed. “We gave you space...two years of space. But we need you to come back. We need you to be you again.”

The portrait of his mother mocked him on the desk by the wall.

“I’m not the best at giving advice, honestly, as a father I’m a disgrace... Masaki would be the one to do those things. But I’m the only one here now, son. If you need to talk or punch me...I’m all here.”

Ichigo smiled weakly. “Thanks, dad.”

“Nightmares?” His father asked.

“I don’t know…”

His father looked at him puzzled.

“Crazy things happened today so I guess my brain is tired of giving me the old usual nightmares...but this one...it was strange.”

“How so?”

“I wasn’t the one suffering in this one...there was someone else there. It felt like a message.”

With that last word, Isshin’s eyebrows shot up and he hugged his son with ferocity. 

Ichigo wasn’t used to being hugged by anyone, not even his father.

“It’s going to be alright. You’re tired, son...try to sleep a little, alright? If not I’ll come back and knock you out.” He gave Ichigo his everyday smile.

“Yeah, right. Good night.”

Isshin turned off the lights and closed the door, leaving Ichigo feeling a little suspicious of his reaction. He dried his orange hair the best he could and then closed his eyes the moment his head hit the pillow.

______________________________________________________

  
  


One week passed without any messages from Urahara, and it’s not like Ichigo would send him a message asking about Grimmjow anyway, but then Friday came along and Yuzu was nowhere to be seen. Ichigo found that he didn’t want her at Urahara’s again because of a certain arrancar’s presence.

He practically ran the entire way to Urahara’s shop and they were all surprised to see Ichigo there. Yuzu and Urahara were nowhere to be seen. Ichigo asked, who Tassei nodded towards the back. He walked on the tatame with purpose, hoping nothing had happened...then he heard laughter coming from the direction he didn’t want to go.

Hesitantly, he slid the door and Yuzu was once again sitting next to a sleeping Grimmjow. Ichigo became angry but Urahara stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Even if he wakes up I put a kidou on him to keep him from moving.” They looked at Yuzu braiding the blue hair and Ichigo wanted to laugh at the scene...Grimmjow would never allow that if he was conscious. “Your sister asked about him, and we noticed that his vitals are showing anomalies. We hope it means he’s waking up...Even if I don’t think human medicine is perfect, they say it’s good to be near people.”

“Urahara, Grimmjow is not a person… he tried to kill anyone who was on his path. Me! He tried to kill me at least two times. I don’t understand why suddenly we’re caring about him!”

“Hum, are you having another mental breakdown? Do you need a minute?”

“I don’t fucking need a minute, Urahara. I just don’t want my sister getting hurt!”

They were interrupted by Yuzu’s firm voice.

“Ichi-ni, Grimmjow won’t hurt me.” She said as if it was the truest thing she ever said.

“And how do you know that, huh? You talked to him? You’ve never even met him before and-”

“We talked a few hours ago.”

Silence.

Ichigo and Urahara gaped at her. The little girl in front of them looked at both men with annoyance, somehow still managing to smile victoriously. 

“Honestly, I can take care of myself. Grimmjow woke up and said ‘Where the fuck am I?’ so I answered. And then he looked at me and asked ‘Who the fuck I was’ and I answered that I was Ichigo’s sister.” She pondered a little before continuing. “I know you two know each other so it’s good to give him a reference. He’s funny.”

“Funny?” Ichigo asked bewildered.

“Yes, because then he said ‘Fucking great, I’m finally in hell and stuck with a Kurosaki, my day just keeps getting better and better’...I told him he wasn’t in hell and he fell asleep again.”

“Yuzu, darling, you should have said that to me.”

Urahara ran to call for Tassei and Yuzu grabbed Ichigo 's hand.

“After he went back to sleep I kept talking to him about a lot of things and I think he listened. His expression was different from before...I think he'll wake up soon, Ichi-ni.”

“Yes...hum great, but please don’t come here alone. He's dangerous, Yuzu.”

“You are dangerous, too.”

He felt like she had slapped him.

“What?”

“You also fight and kill monsters. I don’t see any difference. You two are both dangerous, but it doesn’t mean either of you are bad people.”

Ichigo hugged Yuzu, tears were almost spilling out of his eyes. He felt some sort of comfort at her words.His sister, with her pure heart and infinite wisdom, made him feel like in the end he'd be okay.

After that Ichigo went everyday with Yuzu to sit next to Grimmjow and talk. He wasn’t saying anything during the first days but some stories that Yuzu told needed some extra information so he sometimes butted in to correct her or share his version. Some of the things were too personal, and Ichigo wasn’t sure how he felt if Grimmjow was actually listening to all of it, but Yuzu seemed happy.

Grimmjow’s skin had regained some of its color, his breathing seemed deeper and his heartbeats were getting stronger and stronger each day.

One day, Ichigo went to Urahara alone. 

He kneeled next to Grimmjow and placed his hands on his chest, trying to feel that same sensation from the other week. He went deeper into the other man’s soul, noticing the sparks of reiatsu present that seemed strong . 

Then Ichigo felt a push and he once again felt like he was floating inside that cold feeling of oblivion. He tried to persist, maybe he’d be able to wake Grimmjow and be done with all of this. Go back to his life and be a normal substitute shinigami. But then something caught his feet and that’s when he sucked in his breath.

His dream.

He looked down and the same hand clutched tightly at his ankle, not pushing him down but just there. But then when he hunched over and tried to grasp the hand, it didn’t disappear. Ichigo desperately held onto the wrist, until that hand slipped against his and their fingers entwined. He held onto those fingers, that hand from his dream. The grip on him faltered but then he pushed up and came face to face with familiar blue eyes, eyes who were dazed.

Ichigo put his arms around Grimmjow and tried to swim away, in any direction, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He was confused by both of them, he focused on the arrancar with him and on his own heartbeat.

The cold sensation was dissipating, he heard a noise and then on instinct he grabbed Grimmjow and pulled him into a hug, hoping that the man wouldn't fall or disappear. He needed to save him. Save everyone. He didn't want anyone to die again.

When limp arms started to hug him back he gasped and he was back at Urahara’s room. He fell backwards, gasping for air and weak. His reiatsu was all over the place and that’s when Urahara appeared on the doorstep.

“What did you do?”

“I-I-tried to save him.” He knew he was crying, but he didn’t know why. It was all too overwhelming.

“Well, you might have done it.”

And that’s when both of them felt the reiatsu growing stronger and stronger, not as strong as Ichigo’s but enough to tell them that Grimmjow was still...something supernatural. The man opened his eyes,startled, and Urahara took out the kidou.

Grimmjow sat up, his hands going around his own body as if protecting himself and when he finally calmed down he looked at the other two men in the room. His eyes fired up when seeing Ichigo, but he didn’t move. They stared at each other and emotions that were unknown to Ichigo passed through Grimmjow’s eyes. For whatever reason, that surprised Ichigo and he looked down at his own body and saw how his ribs were showing, indicating he was way thinner than he should be. Also, he noticed that his hole was gone.

“What the fuck is going on? What did you two fuckers do to me?” His words were pure venom and frustration, but he still hasn’t moved so Ichigo judged that he wouldn’t try to kill them. 

“Grimmjow, do you remember me? I’m Kisuke Urahara, we met in Hueco Mundo before we went to war two years ago.” Grimmjow's expression was a mixture of so many things that Ichigo couldn’t keep up. “Ichigo here helped wake you up. You’ve been unconscious for seven months…” Urahara moved closer but Grimmjow hissed. “I need to examine you, so stay still, or do you prefer I put you under a kidou again?”

Grimmjow held his breath, closing his eyes and trying to calm his whole body which seemed to be trembling.

“Hum...you still have your hierro but the hollow aspects are indeed gone. Although your reiatsu is strong, you feel more human than arrancar.” Urahara was mumbling.

“What?” Grimmjow asked. “Wait-you said two years since the war ended...that’s not-” He looked around, his arms on the tatame, he was trying to stand up but after so many months laying still his legs didn’t work and he ended up crashing into Ichigo’s body. Taking both of them to the floor. “Get the fuck off, Kurosaki…”

Ichigo pushed him away, until they were sitting across from each other.

“Why did you come here, Grimmjow?” Ichigo asked.

“I don’t know where I am, stupid.” He snarled towards Urahara who tried to touch his back. “Stop touching me, you creep.”

“Urahara why don’t you go and search for something he could wear?” Ichigo shooed Urahara away from the room, not really minding having to stay alone with Grimmjow.

The man was clearly a mess.

“Uarahara told me that you appeared here seven months ago, bleeding, and then you became unconscious and only woke up now.” Grimmjow looked at his hands. “We don’t know much, though. Sorry.”

“Where’s Nel?” He asked, surprising Ichigo.

“Hueco Mundo, after the war you both went back there.”

“Damn, I think I hit my head because the last thing I remember...I was with Nel and Halibel was pissed at us for helping you assholes. She exiled me and then-no, she didn’t exiled me...I don’t know what happened.” He hugged his legs against his chest, noticing his hair. “The fuck is this?”

“Oh, my sister likes to braid your hair...she thinks you’re cute.” Ichigo joked and received a push that was strong enough to cause him to hit his back on the tatame. “Oi! We’re helping you and I’m in a human body so stop with-”

“Get me something to cut this shit of now.”

Ichigo moved to kneel behind Grimmjow, he noticed that the blue haired man tensed at the action.

“Grimmjow, we won’t hurt you. If you let me cut your hair, I promise I’ll do it super fast.” Ichigo placed a hand on one of Grimmjow’s tense shoulders, but that didn’t seem to calm the man down.

He had a scissor in his pocket so he used that to cut the other man’s hair admittedly with some reluctance because Grimmjow’s hair was thick and his scissors were small, but he got to cut the man’s hair almost as it was before. That same James Dean style, and wow, maybe Ichigo should try a hairdressing career.

Ichigo stood up, maybe it was time for him to get out and leave things to Urahara.

“Whatever is going on, Urahara will help you. Don’t kill them or anyone else...I know that might be hard for you, but behave.” He laughed and patted Grimmjow’s short hair before walking towards the door.

A hand on his ankle stopped him.

The hand obviously was way too familiar, he was getting used to it.

“What the hell, Grimmjow?”

Grimmjow let him go, with a surprised and scared expression on his face.

Ichigo exited the room disturbed by the sight of a vulnerable Grimmjow. And freaking out because his dream had come true in a way.


End file.
